Page 46 of The Vampire's Guide to Wooing a Scholar
He dismissed the thought. If Winifred did not love him yet, he was certain she would, in time. But if fate were so cruel as to place her in his life but not have her be his fated mate, then he did not want one.
There had to be another way. The scientific world rarely operated in absolutes. All he had to do was identify and extract the component out of human blood that alleviated the symptoms of atrophy. Then he could devote his life to Winifred and forget about the messy complications of mating and telepathic bonds once and for all.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“My cousin hasasked me to join her in Glasgow on an urgent matter,” Winifred said as she played with the buttons of the shirt Marcus had refused to remove, even as he’d thrust deep inside her. It was a tad disappointing, but she did not have the heart to push him. Given enough time, her persistence would erode the wall he’d erected between them.
“Glasgow,” Marcus repeated. “Are you certain this is not a trap?” He propped himself up on his elbow. “They are hunters, and you are the wife of a vampire. They might not hesitate to kill you.”
She was shaking her head before he finished. “Not Felicity. Uncle Ethan might have nefarious intentions, but my cousin is innocent.” She fought back tears as she tried to find the words that would make him understand. “It doesn’t matter, Marcus. Even if it is a trap, I must get Felicity away from our uncle. Hebrandedus. I fear what he might do before Felicity comes of age next month.”
He tugged a strand of her hair. “You care for her deeply.”
She placed her hand over his. “You should come with me. We could cover the windows in the carriage.”
“It’s not that simple.”
She sighed. He was right, of course. It was unreasonable to expect him to progress so quickly from a dinner party to traveling to an entirely different city. “I don’t want to leave you alone, but I have no choice. Felicity insisted the matter was urgent, and I cannot ignore the opportunity to wrench her out of my uncle’s grasp.”
He ran his fingers along her spine. “I could make you stay.”
“You wouldn’t dare.” He was stronger than her, but he slept through the day. “What will you do, lock me in my room? Have a servant follow me while you rest?”
He sighed. “Will you at least allow one of my brothers to accompany you?”
She kissed his cheek. “As long as they follow at a discreet distance. If my family have set a trap, I do not want to alert them before I have spoken to Felicity.”
“That will have to do.” He grasped her chin, tilted her head up, then kissed the tip of her nose. “But I shall miss you every moment you are gone.”
She looped her arms around his neck. “There remains an hour until sunrise.” Every second of which she intended to spend in his embrace, clothed or not. Preferably the latter.
He waggled his eyebrows. “I believe my lady requires a bath before her journey.” He kissed her once more before pulling the thick, braided rope in the corner of the room.
“Marcus!” She buried herself under the blankets. Inviting his valet into the room while she was unclothed was beyond scandalous.
There was a rap at the door. Marcus turned to her and pressed his index finger to his lips in a shushing gesture. She giggled despite herself, then flipped the blanket over her head and kept as still as possible. It was rather titillating, indulging in activities that would have made her mother drop into a faint.
She heard creaking, followed by murmuring, then a loud thud. She popped her head out of the blanket as Marcus returned, wearing a smile that made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.
“Smith will arrange for a copper tub and buckets of hot water to be brought up,” he said. Then he untied the curtains around the bed before crawling in to join her.
The next several minutes were spent trying to keep from makingnoise as she heard movement. A task that was made much more difficult by Marcus rasping his tongue along the sensitive skin of her inner thighs. She bit the inside of her cheek but could not help the soft sounds that escaped her lips as he slid his fingers in and out of her sheath and swirled his tongue around her clitoris. The pleasure built until it burst, rippling through her in waves. As she savored the last of the gentle pulses, Marcus gathered her in his arms.
“It is time for you to bathe, my lady.”
She snickered, then shrieked as he bounded across the room and dumped her into the tub. The water was slightly too hot for her liking, but she welcomed the heat because it made parts of her that had been tense all day relax. She slid down with a satisfied sigh, then looked at her husband with half-lidded eyes. He rolled up his sleeves, bearing his forearms.
She lifted one damp leg. “Are you not joining me?”
He fell to his knees and slid his hands into the water. “It is my duty to bathe you, my lady.”
“As you wish,” she said. If he wanted to play being a servant, she would not stop him. She tilted her head so the back of her neck rested against the rim as he produced a bar of soap and stroked it down one leg and then the next. The firm movements of his hands chased away what remained of her anxiety from the evening. Then he tucked the bar between her legs and made her squeal.
“Marcus!”
The cheek of the man. She tangled her fingers in his cravat. But as she tugged him closer, he flinched.
She shifted onto her knees. “What is it?”
